Telling a Story through your Cake Smash Session Images

I am a storyteller with a camera. 

As a cake smash photographer in Saratoga Springs & Boston, I am all about telling the story of my littlest clients’ first birthday celebrations.   Personally, I love doing this in a classic way with a first birthday cake smash session.  

But it’s not just about making a mess out of the cake.  

As a photographer, your job is to discover and tell a story.  There is an entire story that unfolds when you place a cake in front of a baby, and today’s post will help you discover the key elements so that you can capture the full story in your next cake smash session!

START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY

While you can’t exactly have the words “Once upon a time” to obviously clue us in that this is the beginning of your cake smash, there are so many other ways to visually portray the start of the session and the beginning of the baby’s birthday story. 

I like to start my cake smash sessions with a pull back shot of the entire setup BEFORE the baby is even in the frame.  Capture the cake, the decor, and close ups of the little details.  Capture the perfection before the mess that occurs later on!  I do this while parents are getting the baby ready, and I tell them that I’m just testing out my light — which is true!   Sometimes I take a few test shots while waiting for the family to arrive as well, just to make sure there are no other adjustments I want to make to the setup.

After those couple of quick shots, the focus is no longer on the decor, and it’s 100% on the baby.  Forget about the decor and watch the story unfold!
 

Get ready for the action

Next we’re ready for the baby!  I explain to the parents where they will place the baby in the setup.  I ask them to place the baby behind and off to the side of the cake just a little bit.  This way, the baby can crawl or walk towards the cake, showing off their new gross motor skills.  It also gives you a great opportunity to capture the excitement, interest, and curiosity on the baby’s face as they see their colorful cake for the first time!

You are on camera duty, and the parents are on baby-chasing duty.  If you keep getting up to position the baby, you are going to miss a lot of incredible shots, so I make sure the parents know that they’ll bring the baby back into the set if the baby crawls (or walks!) away.
 

WATCH THE STORY UNFOLD

It’s all about the angles!  Start from far away and move in with your camera to capture the entire scene, and then close ups of the baby.  I like to get really close and capture the frosting on their feet, the little pieces of cake that they’re putting into their mouth, and those tiny fingers grabbing the cake.  

One of my favorite angles to capture in the middle of the shoot is the bird’s eye composition.  I grab my step stool and shoot from up above with my 35mm lens.  I sing, clap, and do anything I can to get the baby looking up at me.  It’s my favorite shot every single time showing those wide and sparkling eyes, their beautiful outfit, and the messy cake that they’ve enjoyed all in one shot.
 

FIND A NATURAL ENDING

The image that you use to represent the end of the session may be the very last frame that you capture that day, but I find that the image I choose to show the end often isn’t the very last frame, but one from earlier on when the baby was just over it.  

Maybe they’re crying or crawling away from the cake.  Maybe their big brother or sister came in for a few photos and for a taste of the birthday cake.  Maybe mom’s arms are reaching into the frame to pick up the baby at the end.  Maybe the baby is signing “all done” with their hands all covered in frosting.  Whatever it is, there’s your shot to show the end of the story!

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Some cake smashes last for 20 minutes, and others last for 5 minutes. If you prepare the family to expect this ahead of time, it will be no big deal if the sessions goes a little short because the baby is not feeling it.  Nevertheless, you can still capture a beginning, middle, and end to the story through your images by changing your angles, composition, and looking for storytelling transitions that occur naturally in the session.


Think they're all perfect and filled with smiling, happy babies?  No way!
If your next cake smash session doesn't go as planned, don't worry!  
Check out my favorite blog post that's a compilation of so many recent sessions: 

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After the Session

Don't let the story end with that last photo!  Take it to the blog to share behind the scenes pictures, details about planning the session, and tell your readers a little more about what happened in between frames to tell the full story of baby's first birthday cake smash!